College Azimuth

Research brief & institution hub

Norwich University

VTMedium private nonprofit institution · Overall rank #663 nationally

Data snapshot Updated

Azimuth ranks Norwich University #663 among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Who it’s a good fit for

Norwich University is a private nonprofit university in Northfield, Vermont, with a degree mix led by Military Technologies and Security & Protective Services. Return is well above average.

Graduates out-earn what predicts for students like them. The model adds for the factors it measures — field of study, enrollment and the local labor market — and subtracts for what it cannot explain.

Most graduates are estimated to go into work rather than further study. Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate nearly identical to the entering cohort as a whole, and mobility is modestly below average.

What families in the lowest income band pay is well below the published cost, and the spread between the lowest and highest bands is moderate. The admission rate is above the median for comparable schools.

A student drawn to the largest programs should know that the highest-earning fields are not the largest ones.

Norwich University at a glance

Admissions and outcomes

Admission rate[1]
74.4%
Six-year completion[2]
60.2%
Four-year earnings[3]
$75,909

Cost and family borrowing

Average annual net price · $48–75K family income[6]
$17,332
Median student debt[4]
$25,000
Median Parent PLUS debt[7]
$22,052

Norwich University rankings: how Azimuth assesses value[5]

Norwich University is a private nonprofit university in Northfield, Vermont, enrolling 2,428 undergraduates. Its composite standing sits in the middle of the Azimuth ranking among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The university admits 74.4% of applicants, a rate that runs slightly above the 71.2% median for comparable institutions of the same type and size. Of students who start full time, 79.3% return for a second year, a figure below the peer median of 83.4%.

The six-year graduation rate is 60.2%, also below the peer median of 68.8%. An estimated 26.8% of entrants arrive as transfers, so the six-year rate, which counts only first-time, full-time students, describes a portion of the student body rather than the whole.

Return is the strongest , while mobility is the weakest. Access and affordability fall between them. The four pillars are spread apart, with return well ahead of the other three.

Norwich University is strongest on return, with a less even profile across the other Azimuth measures. Among nonprofit four-year institutions, Azimuth places return in the 83rd percentile, its strongest pillar, and access in the 36th percentile.

Affordability is in the 40th percentile, while mobility, the weakest pillar, is in the 27th percentile.

Among enrolled students who submitted SAT scores, the middle half spans 1,060 to 1,320. 24.4% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, the financial-access measure that helps give the access pillar its shape at this private nonprofit university.

Azimuth ranks Norwich University #936 for access among nonprofit four-year institutions. Those Pell recipients complete at 60.3%, a rate that sits 0.1 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole (60.2%).

That completion figure, taken alongside the share receiving those grants, gives the access pillar its character here. Azimuth ranks the university #1,076 for mobility among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students, which is the earnings-beyond-expectations result.

How value-added outcomes are assessed · How to interpret program rankings

Norwich University rankings in context
GeographyRank
National#663

Azimuth overall value rankings within each geographic comparison group.

National pillar percentiles

Economic mobility
National percentile: 27
Access & reach
National percentile: 36
Affordability
National percentile: 40
Return on investment
National percentile: 83

01 / Norwich University briefing

Norwich University cost & financial aid[6][7]

At Norwich University, the published price is high, but average costs after aid are lower than those at comparable institutions. The published cost of attendance is $67,357, including $49,740 in tuition and fees and $14,680 for room and board.

For aid recipients, the average net price, what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $22,257. Financial aid offsets $45,100 of the published price on average.

At comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median net price is $27,371, putting Norwich's average $5,114 below that benchmark. Azimuth places affordability in the 40th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The aid reduction and lower peer comparison both point toward a less costly result after aid than the sticker price suggests.

Norwich University begins with a published cost of attendance of $67,357, but aid recipients see lower average net prices across family-income bands. , what aid recipients pay after grants and scholarships, is $15,610 in the lowest family-income band, $16,164 in the lower-middle band, $17,332 in the middle band, $22,046 in the upper-middle band, and $27,854 in the highest band.

The spread between the lowest and highest bands is $12,244. Azimuth ranks the university #845 for affordability among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Aid covers about 67% of the published cost for the average aid recipient. Across all aid recipients, average net price is $22,257, after average aid savings of $45,100 against the sticker price.

That figure is $5,114 below the peer median net price of $27,371 at comparable institutions (same type and size). Published tuition and fees are $49,740, and room and board are listed at $14,680.

Among borrowers who completed, median federal student loan debt is $25,000, and 89.3% of federal aid recipients borrow federal loans. The peer median federal debt is $24,199 at comparable institutions (same type and size), placing the university $801 above that figure.

That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years. Median Parent PLUS borrowing among parent borrowers is $22,052.

Your family income

Choose a household income range to see estimated net price.

Reported average annual net price · $48–75K$17,332

After grants and scholarships. Your aid offer may differ.

Averages within each income band; individual aid packages vary.

Borrowing and repayment at Norwich University

At Norwich University, federal borrowing is common, and borrowers who complete carry a median federal student loan debt of $25,000. Among comparable institutions (same type and size), the peer median, the middle value for those institutions, is $24,199.

Norwich’s median is $801 above that benchmark. For the separate parent-borrower population, median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,052.

Earnings four years after completion are a relative strength at Norwich University, with a median of $75,909 for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled. Azimuth places that earnings figure in the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, also compare favorably. Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Earnings scenarios range from $61,514 in a downside scenario to $88,071 in an upside scenario, with the typical scenario matching the observed median.

Median federal debt is $25,000, or $801 above the peer median of $24,199. That debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month if repaid over ten years. Above-expected earnings and above-peer debt point in different directions.

Parent borrowing is a separate part of family financing at Norwich University: median Parent PLUS borrowing is $22,052 for parent borrowers. If repaid over ten years, the median federal debt corresponds to an estimated payment of $284 a month.

How Financial GPS measures payment burden · The four risk-and-reward zones

Financial GPS

What does repayment look like?

Institution median student debt
$25,000
Institution Parent PLUS debt
$22,052

Federal loans only; private or institutional loans aren’t included.

Estimated student payment · monthly
$284/mo
Estimated Parent PLUS payment · monthly
$280/mo

Payments use school-wide median balances, not a specific major’s.

Payment assumptions

Payments are 10-year standard payments on the median balance, before loan fees, used as a yardstick. Rates for newly issued loans may differ, and loans made after July 1, 2026 can repay over a longer term; existing loans keep their original fixed rates.

Explore your own numbers in Financial GPS
Read the full cost & aid brief

02 / Norwich University briefing

Norwich University career outcomes & earnings[3][8][9]

Four years after completing a degree, federally aided graduates who are working and not enrolled earn a median of $75,909. That places the university at the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The median is $7,659 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size). Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students.

That puts the gap at the 65th percentile. Azimuth places the university at the 83rd percentile for return among nonprofit four-year institutions.

The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,212. The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $1,560.

Norwich University has an earnings picture that sits well above the middle of the national nonprofit four-year college set. The median earnings four years after completion is $75,909 for federally aided completers who are working and not enrolled.

Azimuth puts its four-year earnings measure in the 84th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions, drawing on an earnings cohort of 1,023 completers. Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students.

The program-mix model sets a typical earnings scenario at $75,909, alongside a downside scenario of $61,514 and an upside scenario of $88,071. An estimated 21.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, a figure estimated from the program mix. The earnings standing and the model comparison point in the same direction.

Norwich University graduates earn a median of $75,909 four years after completing a degree, placing the university in the 84th percentile nationally. That figure is $7,659 above the $68,250 median for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Azimuth ranks the university #256 for return among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students.

That result sits at the 65th percentile. The part the model attributes to the factors it measures (field of study, enrollment and the local labor market) adds $4,212.

The part it attributes to a remainder it does not explain subtracts $1,560. Within the measured factors, the STEM component adds $2,805.

Estimated from the program mix, the downside earnings scenario is $61,514 and the upside scenario is $88,071. An estimated 21.9% of graduates continue to graduate study, based on the program mix.

The range of modeled earnings at Norwich University leaves room for materially different outcomes by program mix. The downside earnings scenario is $61,514, the typical scenario is $75,909, and the upside scenario is $88,071.

These are earnings scenarios rather than observed groups of graduates. Among named programs, median earnings four years after completion are $90,628 in Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, $86,054 in Nursing, and $85,184 in Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations. Those program results help show the variation behind the scenarios.

Graduates of Norwich University earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students. The median federal debt for borrowers who finish is $25,000, which sits $801 above the peer median of $24,199 for comparable institutions (same type and size).

Borrower debt varies across completers. Parents who borrow hold a separate median of $22,052 in Parent PLUS loans, a population distinct from student borrowers.

What explains value-added earnings?
Program & institutional factors The part attributed to observed institutional characteristics.
+$4,212
Unexplained remainder What remains after the model’s observed factors.
-$1,560
Total modeled value added The modeled difference from expected earnings.
+$2,652

These are statistical model components, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

Read the full outcomes brief

03 / Norwich University briefing

Norwich University acceptance rate & admissions[1][10][11]

At Norwich University, 74.4% of applicants were admitted, so the school admitted most applicants in that reported pool as a group. The rate is above the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size).

SAT: approximate enrolled-student range
Admission rate
74.4%
Approximate lower endpoint
1060
Reported average
1190
Approximate upper endpoint
1320

Enrolled students who submitted scores. This range is not an admission cutoff. The endpoints add section percentiles; they are not verified composite-score percentiles. A separate SAT-equivalent average is not plotted as a median. Source: College Scorecard; sum of section 25th/75th percentiles; enrolled score-submitters.

Read the full admissions brief

04 / Norwich University briefing

What are the largest majors at Norwich University?[12]

At Norwich University, program-level earnings range from higher-paying technical and health fields to more moderate outcomes in larger offerings. Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management recorded median earnings of $90,628 four years after completion, with 49 degrees awarded.

Nursing posted $86,054 with 67 degrees awarded, placing both fields toward the higher end of the school’s reported program results. Among the larger programs, Criminal Justice had median earnings of $70,075 four years after completion and 112 degrees awarded.

Business Administration and Management recorded $73,203 across 44 degrees awarded. The contrast shows that the earnings picture depends materially on field, including within programs that award substantial numbers of degrees.

At Norwich University, the largest bachelor's fields show distinctly different earnings four years after completion. The figures make field choice material because the largest fields do not share one earnings level.

Norwich University awards bachelor's degrees across 16 programs with published four-year earnings data. The program mix is anchored by Military Technologies, which accounts for 18.8% of degrees awarded, followed by Security & Protective Services at 15.7% and Business at 11.6%.

The largest single program is Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations, at 134 degrees awarded, with Criminal Justice next at 112 and Nursing at 67. Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management, with 49 degrees awarded, is the highest-earning program, where graduates earn a median of $90,628 four years after completion.

Nursing is close behind at $86,054. The largest program, Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations, also places among the top earners at $85,184.

Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management and Business Administration and Management round out the largest five, with Business Administration and Management earning $73,203. Across all fields, 27.0% of degrees awarded are in STEM.

The pattern is concentrated: the largest programs are also among the best-paid, and the earnings spread between the top and bottom of the largest five is narrow. Four-year earnings for fields where graduate study is common may understate later trajectories.

Four-year earnings · six largest reported fields
Intelligence, Command Control and Information Operations 134 degrees awarded
$85,184
Criminal Justice and Corrections 112 degrees awarded
$70,075
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing 67 degrees awarded
$86,054
Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management 49 degrees awarded
$90,628
Business Administration, Management and Operations 44 degrees awarded
$73,203
Mechanical Engineering 29 degrees awarded
$82,477

Fields selected by reported completions. Counts describe credentials awarded, not unique students or the earnings sample. Bars show median four-year earnings.

Read the full majors brief

05 / Norwich University briefing

How does Norwich University serve students from different backgrounds?

For Norwich University, completion and modeled earnings point in different directions for mobility. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time full-time cohort is 60.2%, with Pell recipients completing within six years at 60.3%, above the overall rate by 0.1 percentage points.

Earnings beyond expectations, the gap between what graduates earn and what the model expects for similar students, sits in the 65th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. Graduates earn about $2,652 more than the model expects for similar students.

Azimuth places the mobility pillar in the 27th percentile among nonprofit four-year institutions. The lower mobility standing sits alongside earnings that exceed the model’s expectation.

Norwich University’s access picture includes 2,428 undergraduates and an estimated 26.8% share of entrants outside the first-time, full-time group. The university admits 74.4% of applicants, while 24.4% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants.

Among nonprofit four-year institutions, its access pillar sits in the 36th percentile. The admission, Pell, and transfer figures describe several entry points into its undergraduate population.

06 / Norwich University briefing

What colleges are similar to Norwich University?[15]

Azimuth groups alternatives by admissions, location, cost and earnings, then orders candidates within each group. Peer earnings use the matched four-year cohort. How matching works.

A shortlist for different decisions

Choose a row to compare the figures with Norwich University.

Admissions peerSaint Anselm College78.1% admitted
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversitySaint Anselm College
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$76,334+$425 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$34,779+$12,522 vs Norwich University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%78.1%
Higher-admission alternativeFranklin Pierce University93.5% admitted
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversityFranklin Pierce University
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$66,687-$9,222 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$27,154+$4,897 vs Norwich University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%93.5%
Nearby alternativeChamplain CollegeNearby option · VT
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversityChamplain College
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$71,587-$4,322 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$35,860+$13,603 vs Norwich University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%82.9%
Higher-earnings alternativeSUNY Maritime College$104,752 earnings
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversitySUNY Maritime College
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$104,752+$28,843 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$22,367+$110 vs Norwich University · higher cost
Admission rate74.4%72.4%
Explore SUNY Maritime College →
Lower-cost alternativeCUNY Hunter College$2,984 average net price
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversityCUNY Hunter College
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$73,236-$2,673 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$2,984-$19,273 vs Norwich University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%53.8%
Explore CUNY Hunter College →
Similar profileColby CollegeMatched across several measures
Comparison with Norwich University
MeasureNorwich UniversityColby College
Peer earnings · 4 years$75,909$77,429+$1,520 vs Norwich University
Average annual net price$22,257$17,180-$5,077 vs Norwich University · lower cost
Admission rate74.4%7.1%
Explore Colby College →

Each school is the first-ranked match in its category, not a recommendation across every measure. The same college may lead more than one category. Figures use the matching snapshot; earnings reflect the matched four-year cohort. — means unavailable.

Read the full similar schools brief

Data scope & methodology

Structured payloads generated Governed hub narrative Governed spoke corpus

Four-year earnings describe cohorts of completers. Figures for other horizons describe different cohorts and are not joined into a career-growth projection.

Azimuth's overall rank and pillar percentiles come from the school profile. Absolute pillar ranks, city, enrollment and official-site links are shown only when structured data supplies them.

Detailed earnings, cost, admissions and program values come from the endpoint responsible for each measure. Missing values are not replaced with zero. Value-added estimates are model associations, not causal effects.

Figures are refreshed with each data release, at most a quarter apart. The underlying source dates can be earlier than the release.

Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.

Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.

Read the ranking methodology, data definitions and limitations · About College Azimuth

Read the analysis behind value-added earnings and the change to four-year graduate earnings. These articles are published on collegeazimuth.com.

Data notes & source fields

Scorecard field codes identify the underlying measure; Azimuth-derived values are labeled separately. Snapshot dates are not measurement years. Source populations and reporting periods differ across measures. Field definitions are in the U.S. Department of Education · College Scorecard documentation; notes with a different source link it below.

  1. Admission rate. Reported applicants admitted; not a transfer-specific or individual admission probability.

    Source fields: ADM_RATE

  2. Six-year completion. First-time, full-time students completing at the institution within 150% of normal time, typically six years for a bachelor’s degree.

    Source fields: C150_4

  3. Four-year institutional earnings. Median earnings of graduates in the reported cohort who are working and not enrolled, four years after completion.

    Source fields: MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

  4. Median federal student debt. Federal student-loan debt among completers in the reported borrowing cohort. Excludes Parent PLUS and is not total debt across all students.

    Source fields: GRAD_DEBT_MDN

  5. National, regional and state ranks; pillar percentiles; major ranks. Derived scores within the stated eligible comparison set, not raw Scorecard fields. Major ranks compare institutions within a field; their denominators differ.

    Source fields: Azimuth rankings

    College Azimuth · Ranking methodology

  6. Annual net price by family income. Average annual cost after grants and scholarships for the eligible first-time, full-time aid-recipient cohort. Public-school figures reflect in-state tuition. Includes living costs; these are averages, not medians or individual offers.

    Source fields: NPT4_PUB/PRIV; NPT41_PUB/PRIV through NPT45_PUB/PRIV

  7. Parent PLUS debt, payments and GPS illustration. Stored payments use Financial GPS loan and repayment assumptions. The adjustable spectrum applies the published framework to annual student payments divided by earnings minus an expense allowance; its initial allowance uses the frozen 2024 framework baseline. It is an illustration rather than a school rating. Parent PLUS uses the completer median where available, otherwise the all-borrower median; these describe different borrowing populations.

    Source fields: PLUS_DEBT_ALL_COMP_MD; fallback PLUS_DEBT_ALL_MD; Azimuth Financial GPS calculations

    College Azimuth · Financial GPS methodology

  8. Downside and upside earnings; yellow band. The band spans the modeled lower and higher scenarios. It is not the P25–P75 interval for individual graduates. The median marker is the separately reported institutional median.

    Source fields: Azimuth modeled program-mix scenarios

    College Azimuth · Earnings scenario methodology

  9. Value added and its components. Observed-factor attribution plus the unexplained remainder equals total modeled value added. These are associations, not proven causal effects; the remainder is not a direct measure of teaching quality.

    Source fields: Azimuth statistical model

    College Azimuth · Value-added methodology

  10. SAT score range and reported midpoint. Reported scores of enrolled score-submitters, not admission cutoffs. The midpoint field is not necessarily the middle of the displayed range.

    Source fields: SATVR25 + SATMT25; SATVR75 + SATMT75; SAT_AVG

  11. First-year retention. Retention of the reported full-time cohort at four-year institutions.

    Source fields: RET_FT4

  12. Program earnings, completion counts and major-mix dots. Included bachelor’s programs have at least five reported completions. Counts are aggregated credentials, not unique people or an earnings sample. Major-mix dots group those counts by field of study; excluded programs are not zero activity.

    Source fields: EARN_MDN_4YR; IPEDSCOUNT1; CIPCODE

    College Scorecard · Field-of-study technical documentation

  13. Pell recipients. Share of undergraduates receiving a Pell Grant in the reported academic year.

    Source fields: PCTPELL

  14. Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group. This is not an observed transfer-in rate. It includes part-time entrants and other entering-student attendance patterns.

    Source fields: 1 − PFTFTUG1_EF

  15. Peer earnings and signed differences. Differences are peer minus this school, from the same matching snapshot. A positive earnings difference does not mean the peer is better on every measure.

    Source fields: Azimuth peer model using MD_EARN_WNE_4YR

    College Azimuth · Comparison methodology

How to interpret program rankings